Dreaded Ammonia smell Norcold Amish unit experience? UPDATE

[Big_Katuna]

So the unit arrived, my oldest son came in for Christmas so had a good helper.

First comment is that the quality is heads and shoulders better than the OEM unit.

All went mostly well. The mounting holes on the back of the new unit do not align with the original holes and they tell you that on a sticker. Would have made it easier to align the blind inside holes if it had.

It is easier to lay the unit down to test fit and adjust the fit.

I lifted it and held it at a 45 angle while the helper started the screws from the inside.

The one thing I missed was that the unit DOES NOT come with new heater rods. I got one of the old ones out but the other had bare wires showing where they go into the rod so I will have to order a new one. I watched several videos, thought I was paying attention but I never read or heard I needed to buy new ones.

I also thought it came with the new fans. Since the unit is coming back out next year I will order new ones.

I broke the igniter/thermocouple too so I couldn't test it before re-installing it. We are camping for a week Thursday through NYE so had to install it. Hopefully I can get a new igniter Friday and it will work on gas.

If not we will be camping out of coolers.

While I would not call this an easy DIY project, I would do it again.





2005 Fleetwood DP Norcold 1200 LRIM SIDE BY SIDE.
Went out to get something out of the motorhome fridge and was hit by the strong odor of ammonia. Oddly, the fridge is still cold but when I took the out side vent cover off the smell was very strong.

A few Googles got me to the Amish Replacement units for $1100.
No re mans for the 1200 of course.

Has anyone done this themselves? We were supposed to go camping after Christmas. Looking iffy.

The motorhome has a kitchen and living slide so plenty of room to pull it out.

Any advice is welcome

[Big_Katuna]

So I put the new igniter in yesterday fired the fridge up.

It was slow to start cooling but in 3-4 hours it kicked in and the freezer is now -1 and the fridge is 38 set at 6.

Now all I have to do is pull it out one more time to install the new heaters and I am going to replace the fans per Doug Rainer's suggestion.

Thanks to all and I would definitely do it all over.

[dfm]

On a previous trailer I had the Fridge rebuilt by these people

http://hillstreetpropanerv.com/
in Enderby, Britiish Columbia.

They provide a 7 year full replacement warranty for free. It cost me $890.00 to rebuild/replace the cooling unit and it worked perfectly.
They have been in business for 30 years.
So for our B.C., Alberta and Washington Rv Friends this is a good option .

[Big_Katuna]

bfast54 wrote:

Big Katuna wrote:
I saw that. I have a furniture dolly already. I'm trying to chase down a hydraulic lift table like Harbor Freight sells.

Well Hatbor Freight sells Two...different types...I ,personally would get one from Harbor Freight...:h......not sure why you are trying to chase down something they already sell?????

.They work great.....lift to height of truck tailgate..

I wrote that before I found out the fridge weighs around 200#. Even less with the doors off.

And the cheap furniture dolly is the perfect height.

[bfast54]

Big Katuna wrote:
I saw that. I have a furniture dolly already. I'm trying to chase down a hydraulic lift table like Harbor Freight sells.

Well Hatbor Freight sells Two...different types...I ,personally would get one from Harbor Freight...:h......not sure why you are trying to chase down something they already sell?????

.They work great.....lift to height of truck tailgate..

[pianotuna]

I hope the unit came with the over heat protection device from ARP installed. If not, I would add one asap.

[dougrainer]

Big Katuna wrote:
No. I have received two recall notices but neith applied to my unit.
My insulation was a little dried out but no scorching like some of the youtube vids showed.

I did fail to mention that the fan temp sensor was not screwed tight to the fins. both screws had a few turns left and the sensor was loose to the touch. Not good and may be why my unit failed.

The fan and fan tstat system will NOT cause a cooling unit to fail if inoperative. The refer just will not cool correctly. Doug

[dougrainer]

down home wrote:
I'm not sure about any warranty.
Ours exhibited the yellow leak last fall. It was replaced under our extended warranty with a Amish unit. They authorized an Independent, who came to our stroage and done the job. Only thing is he had two to do and used our unit ons someone else's first and got another one for us. The fan is loud on the thing, when you're trying to sleep, so we close both doors.
appaently someone with more money less scrupples gave a good tip.
Early this year we got a call from Norcold about the safety thing.
Told her we had replaced the cooling unit with the Amish built unit.
She wanted details. My wife talked with her. She called a second time.
From what my wife told me. They would have replaced the unit.
Ours is in an 05 Revolution.

IF the Norcold cooling unit was the original (10 years old), Norcold would NOT have replaced the unit under warranty. She misunderstood what the Norcold people stated. WHAT is true is you no longer have the Safety recall on your new Amish unit. The Safety recall kit comes with all NEW Norcold Cooling units. Norcold was probably trying to figure out what YOU did(Aftermarket CU) and trying to determine if they should send you a recall kit for free. They obviously determined that they would NOT supply a recall kit for aftermarket CU's.
Your fan noise has NOTHING to do with the replacement cooling unit. The cooling unit is just that from aftermarket--A cooling unit. The installer just used your old fans and fan tstat and Heating elements. When you replace a OEM Norcold cooling unit, it comes with new Heating element/s also and the new recall safety kit. When replacing a Norcold 1200/1210 cooling unit, I advise the customer to also replace both cooling fans and the Fan tstat as if over 5 years old, they are close to failing from age. Since you HAVE to pull the refer to work on any part of the Fan system, it saves them $300 in labor if you have to pull the refer later. There is no extra labor to replace the Fans and fan tstat when replacing a cooling unit as you have to remove and reinstall anyway. Doug

[Big_Katuna]

No. I have received two recall notices but neith applied to my unit.
My insulation was a little dried out but no scorching like some of the youtube vids showed.

I did fail to mention that the fan temp sensor was not screwed tight to the fins. both screws had a few turns left and the sensor was loose to the touch. Not good and may be why my unit failed.

[okgc]

down home wrote:
I'm not sure about any warranty.
Ours exhibited the yellow leak last fall. It was replaced under our extended warranty with a Amish unit. They authorized an Independent, who came to our stroage and done the job. Only thing is he had two to do and used our unit ons someone else's first and got another one for us. The fan is loud on the thing, when you're trying to sleep, so we close both doors.
appaently someone with more money less scrupples gave a good tip.
Early this year we got a call from Norcold about the safety thing.
Told her we had replaced the cooling unit with the Amish built unit.
She wanted details. My wife talked with her. She called a second time.
From what my wife told me. They would have replaced the unit.
Ours is in an 05 Revolution.

Very interesting. Anyone else received a call from Norcold ?

[down_home]

I'm not sure about any warranty.
Ours exhibited the yellow leak last fall. It was replaced under our extended warranty with a Amish unit. They authorized an Independent, who came to our stroage and done the job. Only thing is he had two to do and used our unit ons someone else's first and got another one for us. The fan is loud on the thing, when you're trying to sleep, so we close both doors.
appaently someone with more money less scrupples gave a good tip.
Early this year we got a call from Norcold about the safety thing.
Told her we had replaced the cooling unit with the Amish built unit.
She wanted details. My wife talked with her. She called a second time.
From what my wife told me. They would have replaced the unit.
Ours is in an 05 Revolution.

[Big_Katuna]

The Amish Made from Cooling Unit Warehouse.

[pianotuna]

Hi Big,

So what unit did you end up with?

[dougrainer]

Do NOT use the original fans. Go to Radio Shack or some other local store and get a 12 volt fan/s with ball bearings to use for a lot less money. Run a 2 wire harness from the Fan Tstat on the upper condenser down the back side by the main control module to bypass that tstat if the tstat fails down the road. Doug

[Big_Katuna]

UPDATE

So the unit arrived, my oldest son came in for Christmas so I had a good helper.

First comment is that the quality is heads and shoulders better than the OEM unit.

All went mostly well. The mounting holes on the back of the new unit do not align with the original holes and they tell you that on a sticker. Would have made it easier to align the blind inside holes if it had.

It is easier to lay the unit down to test fit and adjust the fit.

I lifted the fridge at the top and held it at a 45 angle while the helper started the screws from the inside.

The one thing I missed was that the unit DOES NOT come with new heater rods. I got one of the old ones out but the other had bare wires showing where they go into the rod so I will have to order a new one. I watched several videos, thought I was paying attention but I never read or heard I needed to buy new ones. I thought it came with them. $45 a pair so no big deal but now I have to take the fridge out again.

I also thought it came with the new fans. At $100 a pop I think Ill re-use the OEM fans

I broke the igniter/thermocouple too so I couldn't test it before re-installing it.

Hopefully I can get a new igniter Friday and it will work on gas.

While I would not call this an easy DIY project, I would do it again.